


So Let's Raise a Toast

by artist_artists



Series: Distraction 'verse [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-24
Updated: 2013-02-24
Packaged: 2017-12-03 11:52:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/697961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artist_artists/pseuds/artist_artists
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt and Sebastian are back in Ohio for the summer, but things aren’t the same as they were in New York.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So Let's Raise a Toast

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place a few months after 'Distraction.'

It all starts with a text from Sebastian.

_**Cancel your plans for tonight, we’re going to Scandals.** _

Kurt’s not sure how he wants to reply. He has no plans to cancel, but he also has no desire to go to Scandals ever again. Also, it’s been over three weeks since the semester ended and he came back to Ohio for the summer, and this is the first time Sebastian has made any contact with him at all. Kurt scrolls up in the text conversation to confirm this. Sebastian’s last message, **_Let me know when you’re done flunking your American Lit final_** , had been sent on May 15th. Kurt had, of course, texted Sebastian back after his test. **_I’m done. James left this morning, you can just come here. Your apartment reeks of cheap cologne and I already have a headache._** They had spent the night together, and Kurt had finished packing and left New York the next afternoon. Sebastian had stayed for another week or so, finishing up his own finals and making sure his place was clean. The apartment Sebastian lived in was not a rental. His grandparents owned it, and since Sebastian was planning to go back to Ohio this summer, they’d offered it to some out-of-state friends for the next three months. Kurt had called Sebastian twice the day after he was supposed to arrive back in Ohio, and again a few days after, but his calls had gone straight to voicemail each time. 

It’s well into June now, and Kurt doesn’t know why Sebastian hasn’t texted or called. They don’t live in the same town, and it’s a bit of a drive for them to see each other, so it’s understandable that they wouldn’t hang out every day, but it doesn’t explain the total lack of contact. Kurt had been pretty excited when he found out Sebastian would be in Ohio for the summer, too. The pair had spent most of the spring semester texting whenever they weren’t physically together. They had sex more often than Kurt had been used to with Blaine, and while Kurt knows that they are not in any sort of romantic relationship, he has finally made the leap (mentally, at least) to calling Sebastian one of his best friends. This prolonged silence doesn’t make any sense.

**_What makes you think I would cancel plans for you?_** Kurt finally texts back. 

Sebastian’s reply is almost immediate. **_Don’t pretend you don’t miss me._**

Kurt _does_ miss Sebastian. But why do they have to go to Scandals, of all places? Is Sebastian expecting Kurt to be his _wingman_? And if he’s looking for a hook-up, why wouldn’t he just invite Kurt over to his house? They’re not exclusive, of course, but sleeping with Kurt wouldn’t require any real effort. Unless Sebastian has decided that he’s not interested in… whatever it is they’re doing anymore, and this is his bizarre way of letting Kurt know. That doesn’t make a lot of sense, either. He’s happy that Sebastian’s talking to him, and though he hates himself a little bit for it, Kurt doesn’t want to turn down this invitation and maybe push Sebastian even further away.

Kurt sighs and types out **_You’re buying me a drink._**

_**Anything that’ll make you less of an uptight bitch. I’ll pick you up at 9.** _

Kurt hasn’t been to Scandals since he was in high school, and after seeing so many New York clubs, it looks even less classy than it did back then. Kurt gets a little thrill out of handing his real driver’s license to the bouncer - he only turned 21 a few weeks ago, and while he had used the ID to get a glass of wine at Breadstix during his birthday dinner with his family, this is the first time he’s gotten to use it at an actual bar. 

The bouncer barely glances at Kurt’s license, though, and once Sebastian’s fake ID has also been ignored, he leads Kurt toward the bar. After ordering a beer for himself, Sebastian turns to Kurt. “Malibu and coke?”

Kurt shakes his head. “Just get me a diet coke. One of us needs to stay sober.”

“I’m only going to have one beer,” Sebastian says, rolling his eyes. Kurt hasn’t been out drinking with Sebastian much, but he’s heard that line from other people. He finds it hard to believe. 

“Seriously,” continues Sebastian. “I promise. You can have a drink if you want.”

Kurt relents, and lets Sebastian buy him the cocktail, hoping it will help him relax a bit. The drive here hadn’t been tense, exactly, but after exchanging greetings, mocking each other’s outfits, and complaining about the heat, the car had become pretty silent. Kurt hates feeling uncomfortable around the person he’s spent the last six months feeling completely at home with. 

Once they have their drinks, Sebastian motions for Kurt to follow him to the end of the bar, where it’s less crowded and they can lean up against the counter. Kurt finishes half of his drink in one long swig, but Sebastian sips his beer slowly. 

“So,” Sebastian asks after a minute, “how does 21 feel?” 

The question just reminds Kurt of how he felt on his birthday. All of his friends had either called or dropped by the impromptu party Tina and Sugar had thrown him. Even Blaine had taken him out for coffee that afternoon. Sebastian, though, had not even sent a text. 

“It feels the same as 20 felt,” replies Kurt testily. 

“Jesus, you’re cranky tonight.” Sebastian takes another sip of his beer. “Well,” he corrects, “crankier than usual.”

“Am I?” Kurt asks, finally ready to stop avoiding the subject that’s been weighing on his mind all night. “Maybe it’s because it’s been almost a month since you’ve talked to me, and then today, all of a sudden, you’re demanding that I come with you _here_.” 

There’s a quick flash of guilt on Sebastian’s face, but it’s quickly replaced with confusion. “You don’t like it here?” Kurt raises his eyebrows. “I mean, I know it’s a shithole,” Sebastian continues, “but it’s comfortable. It feels like home.”

“Maybe for you,” mutters Kurt, taking another large sip of his cocktail. “I don’t exactly have good memories here.”

“No? This is where we met, you know.” 

Kurt snorts. “We met at the Lima Bean.”

“Oh, right,” Sebastian says thoughtfully. “Well, this is where I first realized how badly I wanted to fuck you.”

Kurt comes very close to spitting out his drink. “ _What_?” he sputters. “That was years ago.” 

“Yeah,” Sebastian says with a shrug. 

“But we _hated_ each other in high school.” 

“Obviously. Doesn’t mean I didn’t think you were hot.”

Kurt doesn’t know what to say. This had never come up in any of their conversations this year. Kurt himself had not actually realized how badly he wanted to sleep with Sebastian until about 45 minutes before they had sex, so he’s not sure how to relate. He opts instead to bring the topic back to his other concern.

“Are you going to tell me why you haven’t talked to me since we left New York?”

Sebastian looks away from him and focuses all of his attention on his beer bottle. “You haven’t talked to me either.”

“I called you three times once you got home,” Kurt points out. “You ignored all of them and never called me back. I know how to take a hint.”

Sebastian lets out a heavy sigh. “Let’s dance,” he says, taking the empty glass from Kurt’s hand and placing it on the bar next to his own half-finished bottle. Kurt wants to say no, and demand that Sebastian explain himself, but he doesn’t fight when Sebastian takes his arm and leads him over to the dance floor. 

It takes a few songs, but Kurt does relax and start to really enjoy dancing. When Sebastian leans forward to kiss him, Kurt doesn’t resist, and things start to get pretty heated very quickly. 

“I brought condoms,” Sebastian says breathlessly into Kurt’s ear after they’ve been grinding for a few minutes. “I really want to blow you.”

Kurt pulls back, shocked. “What, _here_?” The idea of it sends a small thrill through him, but he knows he could never actually go through with it.

“Here, the car, whatever,” Sebastian says, pulling Kurt’s face closer to his and kissing him again. 

“I know public sex really does it for you,” Kurt says, gently pushing Sebastian back, “but if you want to blow me, you’re going to have to take me back to your house first.” For some reason, Kurt doesn’t really expect Sebastian to agree to these terms. 

“Okay,” says Sebastian, exhaling heavily. “Okay, let’s go.”

They manage to make it back out to Sebastian’s car with little contact, but before Kurt can open the passenger side door, Sebastian has him pressed against it, and they’re kissing again.

“Fuck,” Sebastian groans. “I’ve been wanting to do this for _weeks_.” 

It’s like a bucket of freezing water has been thrown over Kurt’s head. Sebastian’s been wanting to do this for _weeks_ , but he’s been ignoring him this whole time? Kurt pushes Sebastian off of him roughly.

Sebastian’s lust-darkened eyes slowly fill with confusion. “What the hell, Kurt?” 

“I just… I don’t understand why you’ve been avoiding me, since you apparently missed me so much,” Kurt snaps. “Or… okay, I guess you didn’t miss _me_ as much as you missed fucking me, but-”

“We talked about this,” Sebastian says. “You were avoiding me, too.”

“I was not!” Kurt cries. “I called you and got repeatedly ignored!”

“Yeah, you called me a few times and then immediately gave up when I didn’t call you right back!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you expect me to _beg_?” Kurt asks. None of this makes any sense. He had spent weeks being upset that whatever he and Sebastian were had ended with the semester, and Sebastian was blaming _him_ for it?

Sebastian doesn’t answer, keeping his eyes trained on the gravel below them. When it seems like he’s not going to respond at all, Kurt sighs. “Can you just take me home?” he asks, trying to keep his voice from shaking. “I have brunch plans with Mercedes and I don’t want to be up too late.” 

“Yeah,” Sebastian says quietly. “Sure.”

The drive home is completely silent. Kurt spends the whole trip staring out the window, hoping that Sebastian will decide to explain what’s going on. It doesn’t happen during the drive, and it doesn’t happen once Sebastian has pulled into Kurt’s driveway. 

“Well,” Kurt says, unbuckling his seatbelt and pushing his door open, “This was _delightful_. I guess I’ll see you in the fall.”

“Kurt, please,” Sebastian says softly, reaching across the car to take hold of Kurt’s arm, “Just… don’t be such a drama queen about this, okay?” He takes a deep breath, and drops Kurt’s arm once it looks he’s going to stay put. “Things were… weird when I first got home. I didn’t talk to you because… I just had a lot of stuff going on, and our situation is kind of weird, and I didn’t feel like I could deal with it at the time.” 

He’s still being evasive and not making a whole lot of sense, but Kurt decides not to interrupt, since Sebastian is finally starting to give him some semblance of an explanation. 

“I was going to call you on your birthday, because I’m really not a _complete_ dick,” Sebastian continues, “but then I saw that Blaine tagged you at the Lima Bean with him, and I didn’t want to… I mean, I know he broke up with that guy, and we’re not actually… anything, so I didn’t want to get in the way of whatever you guys were doing…”

“We were just having coffee,” says Kurt, once it seems like Sebastian isn’t going to continue. “We’re trying to make things less awkward, you know? We want to be friends.”

“It’s not even my business.”

“It is,” Kurt disagrees. “I want to be able to talk about this with you. Because _we’re_ friends. Or I thought we were. I mean… I don’t really know what I would have done without you last semester. I was a mess, and trying to rebuild all of these relationships in this post-Blaine world and you were the only thing that felt comfortable, you know? Nothing was ever awkward between us, _nothing_ , and now… ”

“And now I’ve fucked it up,” Sebastian concludes with a mirthless laugh. “Sorry about that.”

Kurt isn’t sure how to respond. He had always expected that if anyone were to be weird about their friends with benefits situation, it would be him, not Sebastian. Kurt’s glad that Sebastian is being somewhat honest, and even though the night has been strange and uncomfortable at times, it does feel wonderful just to be around Sebastian again. 

“It’s okay,” Kurt finally says. “I’m sorry I wasn’t more persistent. If I had known you were just being stupid, I would have bugged you more. I just thought…” _That you didn’t want me anymore._ “I don’t really know what I thought.”

They sit in silence for a moment, Sebastian’s gazing out the driver’s side window, and Kurt knows they’re not going to get much further with this conversation tonight. He was lucky to get the information that he did, and if he wants anything more, he’s going to have to try another time.

“I’m gonna go inside,” Kurt says. “I’m, um… I’m glad you texted me today.” Sebastian turns away from his window and gives Kurt a small smile, but doesn’t respond, so Kurt continues. “You can feel free to do that whenever, you know. No matter who tags me at the Lima Bean on Facebook. I always want to talk to you.” 

Sebastian turns to the window again, and Kurt thinks _shit, too sappy, now I’ve totally lost him_ , but Sebastian starts to speak. “I know you’re having brunch with Mercedes tomorrow, but if you’re free after that…”

“I am,” Kurt answers quickly. “I’ll text you when I’m done, okay? We’ll do something.”

“Yeah, okay.” 

Kurt has the strange urge to lean across the seat and give Sebastian a hug, even though hugging has never been part of their relationship before. Sebastian just seems so _off_ right now, and combined with the things he’s said and the awkward feel of the night, Kurt can tell their relationship is never again going to be the simple, fun escape that it’s been for the past six months. But the amount of relief he feels at having Sebastian back in his life after these weeks of uncertainty makes it pretty clear that this is important, and worth the effort. Things are probably going to change, and they are going to have to decide exactly what sort of relationship they want, and it will probably get even more awkward before it gets better, but maybe that’s just a necessary bump in the road. Maybe it’s a good thing. 

“Tomorrow,” Kurt says, finally getting out of the car. “I expect you to be anxiously awaiting my text.” It’s an attempt to get them back into their more familiar playful banter territory, and it works. 

Sebastian smirks. “I can promise to anxiously await your text if you can promise me that it will be a dirty, _dirty_ message.”

_Aaaand he’s back_ , Kurt thinks, shutting the car door. He can hear Sebastian laughing, and Kurt tries not to grin as he walks toward his house, flipping Sebastian off over his shoulder. 


End file.
